A Bump On The Head
by clamshell
Summary: Hinata wants to be strong. What if, before graduating from the academy, she somehow managed to do just that? All it took was a little bump on the head...
1. A Bump On The Head

Chapter 1

"Hinata-sama, Neji-san is here to train with you." One of the Hyuuga household's servants called to Hinata from her bedroom door. Hinata slowly opened her eyes from her meditative expression to glance at the young woman.

"Hai… arigatou, Eri-san." Hinata thanked the lower branch Hyuuga. It was commonplace in the Hyuuga's mansion to house their servants, who also happened to be a part of the clan, only born to a lower branch of the family. "I'll go see him now." She muttered quietly, earning a nod from Eri, who took off almost immediately.

Hinata sighed as she slid the rice paper door closed to change into proper training attire. She would be nearing graduation soon… it was her last year of training in the same class as Naruto-kun. She had to admit, she was going to miss him. He was the catalyst in her life, the one that made her want to become stronger, no matter what. She hadn't accomplished much since she created that goal for herself. Sure, when it came down to knowledgeable things, she was down pat, but she lacked strength. Both she and Neji knew this, which is why she asked him to train her in the first place.

Hinata glanced in the mirror at her training gear. She wore her standard fishnet cutoff top and dark purple capris, and for modesty she wore her trademark hoodie. Even though it hindered her in sparring most of the time, she couldn't get up the nerve to go without it. Frowning uncharacteristically, she speed walked through the rice paper sliding door and down the wood floor halls of the estate. Pausing to check that she remember her shuriken pouch, and seeing that she did, she stepped out of her indoor slippers and into a pair of ninja sandals.

"Hinata-sama." Neji greeted curtly. Hinata nodded at him, mumbling a quite 'nii-san' in reply. "Shall we begin?" He gestured for the training area located a short walk behind the Hyuuga household. Hinata brought her hands together and nodded, walking off without a word spoken. Neji merely followed.

Coming to the familiar training area of the compound, Hinata couldn't help but notice how incredibly beat up some of the dummies were. They'd been painted with the appropriate location of each chakra point to simulate using the Byakugan for users who hadn't activated it quite yet. The paint on the wooden dummies were cracked and chipped along with the wood underneath.

"Hanabi has been training recently, I see." Neji commented, seeing as how only Hyuuga's who haven't activated the Byakugan yet use those dummies.

"Y-yes, indeed." She stuttered. She silently cursed her stutter as she began to stretch her limbs, beginning with her arms, moving to her back, torso, and stomach, then down to her legs. Giving another uncharacteristic movement (cracking her neck and knuckles), she lowered herself into the tradition stance and waited for Neji to get into position as well. When he did, they nodded at one another and activated their bloodline.

Deciding to call upon Naruto's courage, Hinata rushed at her cousin, making the first move for a change. He raised his eyebrows in shock, but didn't miss a beat when she approached. Sidestepping, he completely avoided her Gentle Fist. Ducking to avoid the nimble fingers of her relative, Hinata spun on her heel to face him and went for a classic move in taijutsu, the axe kick.

Seeing Hinata taking their training seriously that day may have been the only mistake Neji made. He got so excited at the prospect of beating the main branch heir that when he blocked her kick and tossed her leg back, he didn't take the time to calculate how much force he would need to push her away. She spun around twice from the momentum of his push and caught her foot on a tree root that had pushed its way out of its earthy home. Still flying from the force, Hinata's head gave a sickening thud as it landed on a particularly large meditation stone that had been left out by previous trainers.

"Hinata-sama!" Neji shouted, worried by the sound he'd heard when she hit the ground. He dropped to his knees and rolled the heiress onto her back. Her eyes were closed, her brow furrowed as if experiencing a bad dream. He bit his lip as he smacked her cheeks lightly. "Wake up, Hinata-sama! Dammit!" He ran his fingers across her scalp until he felt the large bump forming on the left-front of her cranium.

"Oy! That really hurts, you know?!" Hinata sat up and shouted at Neji. Shocked, the Hyuuga prodigy just stared wide-eyed at his cousin. "Jeez, that was a really stupid move, wasn't it?" She rubbed her head gingerly and made to stand up. Neji backed away from the newly confident girl.

"Not your block. I meant my axe kick. That coulda gone differently!" She laughed off her mistake and stretched her neck, cracking it once again. "Neji? You okay?" She asked, bending down to offer him a hand. He silently took it, still staring wide-eyed.

"Are _you _okay?" He asked right back at her. She quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, it's just a bump. Don't get your panties in a bunch, you don't have to protect me all the time, you know." She bit her cheek as she assessed her cousin's currently mental status. '_He's shocked? About what?'_

"I think it's best we call it a day…" He muttered, turning to leave.

"Oh, no you don't, mister!" She laughed out loud, unzipping her hoodie and throwing it off to land on one of the practice dummies. "I'm just getting started!" Neji stopped in his tracks.

"You hit your head very hard, Hinata-sama. _Very hard._" He motioned for her to go ahead of him. Mistaking this as signal for beginning the fight, Hinata charged at him.

"Fight me for real, nii-chan!" As she cried this to the heavens, Hinata landed a flying kick to Neji's chest.


	2. A Meeting At The Stumps

Chapter 2

Rubbing his chest sorely, Neji shot Hinata another sideways glance. She seemed to have changed… drastically! She seemed to hold a semi-permanent scowl upon her once soft features. With her frown, it made her seem stronger. Neji pushed his bottom lip out in deep thought.

"Stop sulking, you baby! It's your own fault you weren't prepared for my kickassery!" She suddenly shouted, turning to him with her hands raised in the air. Drastic changes, indeed. "And stop with that glare. You really are a creep sometimes," She pulled his headband down over his eyes. He struggled for a second; yanking the whole damn thing off, before pointing a death glare at the heiress.

"There's no way a bump could change someone so much." Neji almost pouted. It seemed that without her shy and modest attitude towards life, Hinata was actually skilled enough to pull one over on him. How could he have not noticed this before?

"Neji, you really are acting weird. I think you should see a doctor." Hinata shrugged at him, skipping on ahead. "I'm gonna go train on my own for a while! Tell Hiashi I'll be back for dinner!" Her voice faded slightly at the end, having reach at least ten meters ahead already. Neji blinked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"I'm hallucinating. That's it. Hinata-sama hasn't changed at all. She's still weak. It is her destiny to be so…" He muttered to himself, walking back into the mansion and sliding the paper-thin doors shut.

_*With Hinata*_

A wide smile graced Hinata's face as she ran in between the buildings of Konoha. It'd been ages since she went out and trained on her own, away from the Hyuuga compound.

"Ahh, it's such a nice day!" Reaching her hands behind her head, she upheld a light jog as she neared the public training grounds. Humming lightly, she hoisted herself up on a particularly large tree stump and surveyed the area from her newly found vantage point. "What have we here…?" She trailed off, her vision zooming in on Sakura and Ino fighting over… most likely boys.

"…Shut up, forehead! I already claimed him as mine!" Ino turned to face away from Sakura as they continued their walk by the training grounds. Word on the street was that Sasuke was training somewhere nearby. Scoffing, she pointed her nose up in the air and continued her search for the Uchiha.

"OH! I THINK I SEE HIM!" Sakura nearly screeched, running into the training area, over the light sprinkling of foliage that lined the grounds. Coming closer, she slowed her sprint to a jog and finally to a walk as she realized who it was standing on the particularly large tree stump.

"Oh… it's just you, Hinata. Sorry…" Sakura trailed off, her head slumping in disappointment. Sakura hadn't recognized her without her tell-tale jacket. Instead, she sported a mesh tee shirt that stopped a few inches above her navel and a pair of dark purple capris, standard ninja sandals adorning her feet.

Hinata gave Sakura a once over. The girl seemed very dejected. "Lookin' for Uchiha?" She asked, sitting down on the edge of the stump and leaning back on her palms. Sakura gave her a suspicious look.

"Have you seen him?" She asked almost ravenously. Hinata barked with laughter at the pink haired girls attitude.

"What are you, obsessed?! No… I haven't seen the stuck up bastard." She remarked lamely, waving a hand in the air for emphasis. Sakura looked at her incredulously.

"Who are you and what've you done with Hinata?" She questioned with more suspicion than necessary. This wasn't the young Hyuuga heiress she went to school with!

"What is with you people today? First Neji, now you… CAN'T A GIRL EVER JUST BE HERSELF?!" She shouted to the heavens. Running her fingers through her hair to straighten it out (having been blown around from her run around the town) she felt the bump Neji must've been rambling about on the left-front of her head. "Itaaaaiiii!" She cried, pulling her hand away and bending her neck down. Shaking her hair into place instead, she looked back up to see Sakura just staring at her.

"Sakura, what was that noise-?" Ino came bursting from the tree line, halting her search for Sasuke to come investigate the noise she'd head. Upon spotting the pink haired kunoichi-in-training and noticing that there was no trouble afoot, she let her gaze travel up the to the flat end of the stump to see a Hyuuga sitting there with an uncomfortable expression on her face.

"Hey Yamanaka, how's it hangin'?" She drawled casually. Ino looked from Sakura to Hinata, and back to Sakura again.

"Is…. Is that Hinata?" she asked Sakura. Sakura nodded. "Well… come with me. You have the Byakugan, right?" She hammered out instantly. Hinata shrugged in compliance and hopped down from the stump.

"Yeah. Need help with something?"

"You can find people based on their chakra signature, I've heard. Or at least, advanced users can. Can you find Sasuke-kun for me?" She asked, puppy-dog eyes taking up most of Hinata's vision. Hinata looked up at the sky and closed one eye in thought. Humming lightly, she looked back to Ino and gave a brief nod.

"I'll find him. But I can't use my Byakugan for that unless he's nearby. I'll help, none the less." She added the last bit as an afterthought.

"Alright! Let's go, Hinata-chan!" Ino punched the air enthusiastically and took off running. Hinata smirked and took off with her, Sakura trailing behind them. As they were running, Hinata took notice of how weak their strides were. They looked like they could only go for a couple of miles. Silently thanking the training she took upon herself recently to get stronger, which included running around Konoha multiple times and intense taijutsu training with her cousin, Neji, she sprinted ahead of the slow girls and made an immediate left, having picked up on a slightly flare of chakra in that direction.

Ino and Sakura panted as they skidded in the direction Hinata suddenly turned. Wanting to maintain a girlish figure, they hadn't been training properly to become kunoichi so much as they went to the academy under family obligations and such. Seeing Hinata's strength compared to their own certainly wounded their pride, but most of all… it was a monumental slap in the face. All this time, they thought she was at least weaker than they were, but it turned out to be the complete opposite.

"When did she become *pant* so… strong?" Sakura wondered aloud, looking at Ino for an answer. Ino merely glanced back at Sakura and shrugged.

"I dunno… it came out of nowhere!"

"Well… I have seen her out and about *pant* training… running around Konoha, fighting with Neji… *pant* but she was still the same *pant* weak girl then… what changed?"

From beneath the trees, Hinata spotted a bright clearing some meters ahead of herself. Slowing her run, she looked back at her classmates and pointed at the clearing.

"There!" She shouted, feeling the chakra of two Konoha citizens radiating from the training field. It was nearby the Uchiha compound, as well as an old ramen stand that Naruto frequented, Ichiraku's. Breaking through the tree line, Hinata shielded her eyes as the sun temporarily blinded her. Letting her eyes adjust, she blinked rapidly and scanned the field for the source of the chakra flares.

"O-Oh…!" She gasped, bringing her hands together in front of her to fiddle with her fingers.


	3. A Fight In The Field

Chapter 3

Hinata's face flared red upon catching the gaze of her long-time crush, Naruto. There he sat, bright orange jacket wrapped unceremoniously around his waist, leaving his chest quite bare, hands together in the ram sign trying to focus his chakra. Hinata realized, with a look of incredulity, that she hadn't sensed two chakra signatures, but rather Naruto's incredibly large chakra signature and one smaller off in the distance.

Ino and Sakura came crashing through the trees right into the back of the Hyuuga heiress and sending all three of them to the ground in a heap. Hinata's face still burned with a blush she instantly recognized as the one she adorned whenever Naruto was around.

Coming through the opposite side of the clearing, the smaller chakra signature Hinata felt earlier made their appearance. It was indeed Uchiha Sasuke. Sakura and Ino unraveled themselves from each other's and Hinata's limbs and stood to see the newcomer. Hearts instantly replaced their eyes as they practically floated in his direction.

Naruto rose from his seated position at the base of a young redwood and came over to greet the small group located just across the clearing from him.

"Ahhh, Sakura-chan! So nice of you to come and see me!" He brought one hand into the air and waved fanatically. Nearly tripping over the still sitting Hinata, Naruto paused his journey to see _his _long time crush, Sakura. "Oh, Hinata-chan. Here–" He held a hand out for her to grab. Lightly, she placed her hand in his and he hoisted her up. A light squeak escaped her lips as she nearly stumbled into the boy of her dreams. In order to calm her fiery blush, she decided to concentrate on something else.

Sakura looked away from her precious Sasuke momentarily to see Hinata's face flushed deep red and her gaze leading ahead of Sakura at the famed Uchiha Sasuke. Glancing between the two, Sasuke and Hinata, she completely failed to notice Naruto standing just beside the Hyuuga. A wave of anger and jealousy came over Sakura as she interpreted Hinata's blush as a crush on _**HER**_ Sasuke.

Sasuke looked on at the scene in front of him. Ino and Sakura were, as usual, being fan girls and practically flying at him. Hinata sat some ways behind them on the ground, gazing lovingly at the infamous dobe, Naruto, as he just about tripped over the poor Hyuuga. Her blush intensified when he offered his hand and she stood next to him, nearly falling over. Her gaze turned to _him_, as a means of distraction, Sasuke supposed.

Naruto took notice of Sasuke as soon as he followed Hinata's gaze. '_Oh great, he's got another fan!' _Naruto thought angrily.

Hinata tried to shake away her nervousness, earning a raised brow from Sasuke. She finally realized what it was she decided to distract herself with, and nearly died when she caught Sakura's glare.

"N-no way! She doesn't think I-I like…" Hinata trailed off, looking back at Sasuke. _'She must have misinterpreted…'_ She almost laughed, but remembered Naruto's presence right next to her when he took off in the direction Sakura was still floating.

"Aah… what time is it, Hinata-chan?" Ino suddenly spoke up, momentarily forgetting her journey to see Sasuke. Hinata took a deep breath and glanced up into the sky. Locating the sun, she replied.

"Nearly five thirty, p-perhaps…"

"Shit! Mom's gonna kill me!" Ino cried. "I forgot my shift was at five!"

"Oh, that's right! I haven't even started my chores for the day! Thanks for the time Hinata, gotta go!" Sakura snapped out of her daze as well, speeding off in the direction Ino ran. Naruto followed like a puppy. Hinata donned a hurt expression at seeing Naruto act like that around Sakura. She harrumphed, and looked to see that it was only her and the Uchiha left in the field. The nervousness she felt dissipated, leaving nothing but slight disdain for the stuck up boy before her.

"…I hardly got to train today!" She suddenly screamed, nearly knocking Sasuke off his feet in surprise.

"A-are you okay?" He spoke up, looking incredulous, for the first time since entering the field. Today seemed like it was going to be weird. Right off the bat, he had noticed it. Seems like fate decided to rear its ugly head, finally.

"Aaargh, I'm fine, I guess!" She continued her little rant, "I'm just frustrated… it seems like nobody takes being a ninja seriously, at least girls don't…" She kept cursing in her head, almost not noticing it when Sasuke slipped a shuriken out of his pouch and threw it in the direction of one of her limbs. Her gaze sharpened and her instincts took over, pulling her body off to the right.

"You seem different." He remarked, noticing how much stronger she not only looked, but actually was. "You were never able to dodge practice shuriken during in the academy… have you been holding back?" He asked, turning his head just slightly in a questioning glance.

She frowned. "Did you just try to take my arm off?! Oh, you're asking for it now!" She smirked, avoiding the question determinedly. Activating her bloodline, she sprinted towards the Uchiha and aimed to block a chakra path in the same spot he had aimed for on her arm. The Sharingan showed itself at nearly the last second, providing Sasuke with the ability to read the Hyuuga's movements and dodge her oncoming attack.

"Dammit! Sit still!" Hinata roared, swinging her leg back in a roundhouse kick, only to have her leg caught mid-swipe by the Uchiha prodigy. She yanked her leg free and ducked to avoid a lightning fast uppercut. Sasuke suddenly leapt back a meter, bringing a hand up in front of him as a sign to stop momentarily. Hinata let out a puff of air and crossed her arms irately.

"What's the matter? Are you too much of a pansy to fight a girl? Come on, I've been dying to spar with an Uchiha!" She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation as she waited for him to reply. He glared at her just slightly and resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"How about we wait until the taijutsu exam," He suggested, dropping his arm, "to see who's better?"

She inhaled deeply and raked her eyes over his body, scanning his chakra paths. _'Oh, I see now! He's nearly completely drained!'_

"Fine. You look exhausted anyways. No fun in fighting a half-dead boy. How long have you been out here training, anyways?" She cocked her head to the side a little, mimicking his earlier questioning motion.

"Since four…." He muttered.

"That's only two and a half hours of training," She interrupted, giving him a quizzical expression.

"….AM." He finished. Her jaw nearly hit the ground it dropped so low.

"DO YOU EVER SLEEP?!" She shouted at the side of his face. Sasuke rubbed his abused ear, shooting an evil glare at the back of her head as she walked on a bit ahead of him. '_What the hell happened to her?' _He wondered in silence.

"You know what…. I'm gonna buy you a riceball. That's some hardcore training, going for fourteen and a half hours!" She stopped suddenly and turned around to face him. He flinched backwards a little at the sheer confidence on her face that she completely lacked in front of Naruto.

"Do you love Naruto?" He found himself asking. Her face faltered and red seared its way across her cheeks.

"W-well… um, I… uh?" And that's the Hinata Sasuke found himself remembering; weak, stuttering, and foolishly in love with that dobe. "D-don't give me that l-look! It isn't weak to l-l-love somebody!" She shouted at him, giving Sasuke the impression that she had read his mind. She turned away from him, continuing her explanation when he didn't reply.

"…I do. Love him, I mean… he's always so strong, no matter what hand fate has dealt him. He made me want to become stronger, despite what… Hiashi said…" inhaling deeply, she continued to walk, not waiting for Sasuke to catch up to her.

"What about that riceball?" He called out, suddenly remembering her offer.

"Oh, shut up, would ya? Where do you think I'm going?!" She turned back around to smile at him. "I'll get you your damned riceball, Uchiha!"


	4. A Squirrel With The Coat

Chapter 4

Hinata rolled her shoulder in circles with a look of concentration plastered on her face. She'd been having troubles remembering exactly what happened the day before when she was training with her cousin, Neji. The rest came clear as a bell… when she ran into Sakura and Ino, when she went Sasuke-hunting, when she found Naruto-kun instead, when she briefly fought with Sasuke only to buy him a riceball an hour later…. Uh-oh, Hinata's having a flashback… here we go!

_*Flashback Time, muthafuckas*_

_Walking with her hands behind her and leaning back slightly, Hinata peeked out of the corner of her eyes to see Sasuke glancing side to side over and over again. _

"_What's gotten into you?" She interrogated, dropping her hands to her hips. Sasuke gave her a stern look, but continued his weird mannerisms without a word otherwise. "Come on, you can tell me!"_

"…_Fine… I'm looking out for… fangirls." He muttered the last part so quietly, Hinata almost couldn't hear him. _

"_Wait, wait… repeat that, would ya?" She asked, leaning in and putting a hand to her ear. _

"…_fangirls…" He muttered again. She scrunched her nose and leaned in closer, giving him a stern look. He gave a light huff of frustration and balled his hands into fists._

"_Fangirls!" He spoke a little too loud that time. As if summoned, a stampede of academy girls came running around a corner with hearts replacing each and every one of their eyes. They looked vicious to Hinata. One of them momentarily stopped looking at Sasuke to glare daggers at Hinata. In a chain reaction, several of them copied the afore mentioned girl in her dagger glaring ways. _

"_Holy..!" Hinata flinched, grabbed Sasuke's arm, and bolted. "Why didn't you say so before?! Cheese and rice, there are so many of them!" Turning a corner, and skidding might she add, Sasuke suddenly took the lead and pulled the both of them into a convenience store. Yanking the both of them down to hide behind a selection of books (Icha Icha Paradisu, Hinata noted) Sasuke and Hinata waited until they heard the roar of footsteps pass before standing up. _

"_How often does that happen?!" Hinata asked worriedly, a mix between a glare and concerned eyes giving him a once over. _

"_I can't go anywhere without that happening." Sasuke mentioned, giving Hinata a sideways glance. _

_Hinata sighed exasperatedly and took off down one of the isle. "Well, since we're here… how 'bout that riceball?"_

_*End of Flashback, yo*_

"Maaaa, looks like I've forgotten something," Hinata whined, jumping the distance from the first stepping stone to the seventh, leading up the front door of her home. "Tadaima…" She muttered, slipping her sandals off at the door and stepping into a pair of slippers.

"Okaeri Hinata-sama… Hinata-sama, where is your jacket?" Eri asked, giving Hinata a quizzical look. Hinata rolled her eyes to the ceiling and brought a finger to her chin in thought.

"Ano… I cannot remember."

"You took it off while we were training yesterday." Neji appeared, his forehead protector tied into place to cover the mark on his forehead. '_Is he going on a mission?'_ Hinata asked herself.

"Oh! I…. still can't remember, it seems." Hinata tried, but failed and thought nothing of it. "Going somewhere, Nii-chan?" She gave him a once over and noted that his shuriken pouch was full and he carried a pack over his shoulder. His signature bandages had been replaced as well.

"Eri-san, didn't I tell you Hinata-sama took quite a blow to the head yesterday? And now look at how she acts!" Neji waved his hands at Hinata for emphasis.

"What are you talking about, Nii-chan! I totally don't remember that!" She frowned, looking at Eri for confirmation.

"Hai, Neji-san did say something about you hitting your head on a rock. He also mentioned your personality change." Eri spoke slowly, as if still considering the possibility in her head. "In fact… I can see it just in your eyes that your demeanor _has_ changed. I think you should have a medic take a look, Hinata-sama."

"Take a look at what, exactly? I'm not ill, nor am I injured–" Hinata was cut off by Neji bringing a hand up to her head. Merely bopping her head lightly, his knuckle landed softly on her skull. "IIIITAAAIII!" Hinata whined, slapping Neji's hand away. "What was that for?!"

"You are injured, Hinata-sama. Neji was merely letting it be known." Eri pointed out.

"Okay, you have me there. But you coulda just said something… no need to poke at my wounds!" She shouted dramatically. Eri's eyes went wide as dinner plates as Hinata sauntered off to the training grounds to fetch her jacket. Neji had an I-told-you-so look plastered all up on his face, one that made Eri forget her shock momentarily and roll her eyes at the Hyuuga.

"You Hyuuga's are all weird." Eri sighed, tipping her head sideways and closing her eyes in exasperation.

"I'd have thought you were used to it by now…" Neji murmured, not really intending for her to hear him.

"There's no way I will ever get used to you people," She began, going into Eri-Tirade mode, "Seriously, if my mom hadn't remarried to a low-ranking Hyuuga, I wouldn't be in this mess in the first place!"

"Oh, a mess, she says~!" Came a giggling cry from a nearby staircase.

"Oh, kami… please, don't let it be-"

"Servant Girl! Chinami needs her tea! Earl Grey, chop chop!" At each "chop", Hyuuga Chinami slapped her hands together as sharply as her manicured fingers could manage. Neji frowned at his cousin. She was lower ranking than he was, yet she was so much more pompous about her position above others than any branch-member he knew. Giving a sideways glance of sympathy to Eri, he chose that moment to make his escape. He was never one to be late for a mission.

Eri closed her eyes for a second and looked up at the ceiling, "Kami-sama… why have you forsaken me?"

"Chinami-chan, you should be nicer to your new step-sister!" Chinami's father, Hyuuga Tomoshi, chided his 14 year old daughter. Chinami then flashed her best puppy dog eyes, to which Tomoshi completely forgot why he'd even spoken against his little sweetheart in the first place.

"Dammit, Tomoshi! You are weak to that girl!" Eri threw her hands up in the air and slumped into the kitchen to fetch the princess her tea. She was, after all, obligated to do so. Especially after what happened that day…

_*Meanwhile*_

As Hinata walked boorishly to the Hyuuga training grounds in search of her forgotten jacket, she began to worry herself senseless. It wasn't the jacket. Heavens no. It was the bump Neji prodded unceremoniously a few minutes earlier. It'd already been a full day since she received the horrible mini-mountain on her head. Hinata had slept through something that could have been a concussion.

"I could have friggin died!" She suddenly screamed. Calming herself down, she shook away thoughts of her bump and focused on finding her forsaken jacket.

"…why… just… why-" Hinata didn't even get the chance to finish her ponderings as to where her jacket could have gone when a tannish flicker in the trees caught her attention, "A-ha!" Shouting in success, she jumped up to reach a low-hanging branch and flung herself higher, crushing countless twigs in her hurry, only to come face to face with…

"… a squirrel?"

Hinata looked at the creature in fascination. The thing was HUGE. Not only was it abnormally large, it was holding her jacket between its gargantuan squirrel paws and MUNCHING on it!

"Horrid beast! Drop…my…coat." She let the words come out between her teeth and clenched her fists into little balls of fury. Dropping into the Hyuuga stance and activating her bloodline, she glared at the monstrous rat and hilarity ensued.


	5. A Boy With A Story

Chapter 5

Breathing in through her nose, then out through her mouth, Hinata gave a wide yawn and a stretch as she eyed an equally tired squirrel.

"That was freaking awesome Sir Squirrelington," she said, using the name she thought up not five seconds ago. Reviewing the previous scene in her head, Hinata simply wanted to laugh. "I can't believe I just battled a squirrel!"

_*uh-oh, it's Hinata flashback time!*_

_Dropping into the stance preferred by members of the Hyuuga clan, Hinata gave one last glare directed at the gargantuan squirrel before pouncing. The squirrel shot back with a mischievous smirk flitting across his minute features, most of his emotion displayed through the twitching of his tail. Hinata nearly faltered from seeing the smile on the animal's face, but persevered. _

_Sending her palms flying out in front of her, Hinata couldn't help but notice how the squirrel seemed to be anticipating her moves. Deciding to switch things up a bit, she sent her legs flying in a similar flurry as her palms. Seeing as how she was only fighting a squirrel, she figured a little experimentation with fighting style couldn't do any harm. The squirrel actually kept up with her as she went from traditional Hyuuga fighting style to the street fighting that she often witnessed the lower branch members using when she was a little girl._

_"How do you know these things-" she began to ask dubiously, but was cut off by a tree branch to the forehead she wasn't expecting._

_*Oh snap, not a tree branch- ahem- I mean, Hinata flashback end!*_

"Neither can I. Then again..." said an echoing voice, "You are my container, so it's to be expected."

Hinata whipped her head back and forth, searching for the source of the echoing voice.

"Who da hell just said that?!" Hinata frantically scurried backwards on her palms until she reached the base of a tree, eyes raking the line of trees before her and only coming to a stop when the squirrel ran into her line of vision. "...you!"

"Who, me?" the lips of the squirrel moved into a smirk as Hinata flew backwards dramatically.

"I've gone crazy! Oh mother in heaven, why is this happening-!" The talking squirrel decided to shut Hinata up before she could attract any unwanted attention.

"Why are all of my containers cursed?" he grumbled to himself before leaning down on his front paws. Rolling his shoulders counter clockwise, his muscles began to groan and twist and contort until there was no longer a squirrel in the place he once was. There was a boy.

"Knock it off!" came a slightly lighter voice in the squirrel's direction. Hinata rocked herself up into a sitting position and stopped babbling about her insanity for a moment to investigate. Upon looking at where the squirrel should have been, in his place was a boy of perhaps six or seven years old... A little younger than Hanabi.

"Who are you?!" she practically shouted at the child.

""Sir Squirrelington", if I do recall," the boy's voice may have been light in pitch, but his tone spoke of centuries of experience. He practically laughed at Hinata in the way that he spoke AT her.

"You mean... You are that squirrel?" she hesitated. The boy did have the same colored skin as the squirrel's shiny, light brown coat, and his face bore the same white markings that the squirrel had... Was it possible?

"My name is Masarisu. I am a demon. And YOU are my container." he finished his statement with a bored expression on his face. Hinata blinked at him.

"Pffft-" Hinata whipped a hand up to her mouth to keep from bursting with laughter.

Masarisu faltered at Hinata trying to hold back her laughter.

"W-what is this laughter?!" he squinted at Hinata and attempted to read her mind to find an answer. She answered him before he could get very far, however.

"Your name means justice squirrel!" she broke out into full on laughter, rolling around in the dirt almost uncontrollably.

"..." Masarisu said nothing as he waited for his human to finish her antics. When she calmed down enough to wipe the tears of laughter from her eyes, he cleared his throat and sat down in preparation for a long story.

"Come. Sit... I will explain everything, my dear human." he spoke slowly, trying to let it sink in for the girl to understand the severity of the situation at hand. She cleared her throat and straightened herself out upon seeing Masarisu's serious expression.

"Okay… I'm good now. Can I just call you Risu instead? I don't think I can handle calling you… ah, yeah." She almost broke into a smile at just remembering the demon's serious introduction of such a silly name.

"Fine. Call me whatever you wish to call me. All you have to do is listen to my story." Hinata nodded at Risu's words and resituated herself to get comfortable. She had a feeling this was going to be a looooong story. "It all began during the First Shinobi War…"

_*Masarisu Flashback*_

_All of the major shinobi nations were dragged into this war, which in turn dragged every small, peaceful nation into the war with the greater nations. There were almost no safe-zones, including the wild, which was where I was spawned. While it may not have been the most damaging war, it was certainly the one that sparked the rest of the wars. While the first Hokage of the Hidden Leaf had decided to split the tailed beasts among the five great nations, the smaller nations felt quite under-armed compared to those who were supposed to be their comrades. _

_The bijuu caused more trouble than they were worth, and as a result, the five great nations were utterly destroyed by the time the war ended in armistice. Seeing their opportunity, the smaller nations, The Land Of Demons and The Land Of The Sky in particular, quickly began plotting a way to overthrow the five most powerful nations in order to bring their lands to the top. They felt it was truly justified, given the treatment they received all throughout the war. Which is where my name came from. Masarisu. They held experimentations on all kinds of animals and demons from both the Land of the Sky and Demons, and they each received an ironic name, much like my own, with their own species prefixed by the kanji for "Justice". I happened to come from the Land of Demons, so experimentation went more… smoothly for me, as compared to my fallen comrades. _

_It didn't take long for the five great nations to catch wind of these experimentations, so most of us were completely eradicated before we could even be used. However, I managed to escape the hell-hole that is The Land of the Sky. The people there had attempted an air-raid on Konoha and failed miserably, so they were especially sour towards the five great nations. _

_*End Masarisu Flashback*_

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to tell you the rest of the story at a later date…" Masarisu appeared fidgety all of a sudden, and he began to nervously run his palms down his pants.

"Why's that?" She questioned.

"It appears someone is looking for you!" He squeaked out and faded like a mist at the sound of a twig cracking in the distance. Hinata had barely heard the light footsteps of Eri before she came into view from behind a tree.


End file.
